Simon Nemec scored in overtime, again, to give the visiting New Jersey Devils a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday.
Dawson Mercer also tallied for the Devils, who have won three of four and opened a four-game road swing on a positive note.
New Jersey’s Jacob Markstom made 21 saves in an excellent netminding battle.
Markstrom, traded to New Jersey from Calgary in the summer of 2024, stood especially tall with glove saves on Yegor Sharangovich and Joel Farabee in the third period while the contest was tied.
Nazem Kadri scored for the Flames, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Calgary goalie Devin Cooley stopped 29 shots, most notably Nico Hischier’s breakaway chance before the midway point of the third period.
The Devils maintained possession of the puck from the start of overtime and Nemec became the hero 78 seconds into the extra frame. The puck went off an official, which allowed Jesper Bratt to kick it to Jack Hughes, who sent a pass to Nemec alone in front of the net.
Nemec quickly converted to net his third overtime goal of the season, tops among defensemen.
After a scoreless opening frame, Mercer finally cracked the goose eggs at 7:51 of the second period with a nifty redirect of Dougie Hamilton’s pass while parked at the side of the net.
Kadri pulled the Flames even less than two minutes later. The veteran snapped a 13-game goal drought with a one-timer from the right faceoff dot.
It was Calgary’s first game after trading away defenseman Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a couple of draft picks, a prospect and defenseman Zach Whitecloud, who made his Flames debut. Whitecloud had an even rating and two shots on goal in 22:33 of ice time.
On a night when New Jersey forward Lenni Hameenaho, a 2023 second-round draft choice, made his NHL debut, the Devils saw defenseman Luke Hughes leave the game midway through the second period due to an apparent upper-body injury.
–Field Level Media
